Finland · The Landtag of 1863

In 1863, Finland was not an independent state but had been an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire since 1809. The Russian emperor also ruled as Grand Duke of Finland. The country retained its own administration, legislative tradition and legal system, but the Finnish estates were not convened again for more than five decades after the Diet of Porvoo in 1809. Political decisions therefore lay largely with the emperor and the Finnish Senate.

Alexander II finally summoned the estates to Helsinki in 1863. The “Diet” of that time was not yet a parliament in the modern sense. It consisted of four estates that met separately: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers and the peasantry. Large sections of the population were not directly represented. Legislative proposals generally originated with the ruler; the estates deliberated, among other things, on laws, taxes and economic matters. Nevertheless, this created an institutional framework in which representatives of Finnish society participated in legislation and could publicly discuss grievances and political concerns.

The resumption of the assemblies of the estates initiated more regular parliamentary activity. A new Diet Act later stipulated that the estates should meet at fixed intervals. This led to the development of a political public sphere in which parties, associations and newspapers increasingly gained influence. Also in 1863, Alexander II issued a language ordinance intended to gradually expand the use of Finnish in administration and the judiciary. This was connected with the Finnish national movement and the effort to strengthen the position of the Finnish-speaking majority in relation to Swedish, which had predominated until then.

Despite these changes, the Diet of the Estates remained socially limited. It was not until the parliamentary reform of 1906 that it was replaced by a unicameral parliament based on universal and equal suffrage. Women received both the right to vote and the right to stand for election. The convocation of 1863 is therefore regarded above all as the starting point of a development that led from participation by the estates to the modern Finnish Parliament. The round anniversary provided an occasion to commemorate this institutional new beginning.